Many happy returns! Despite your own prediction of your limited lifespan, I hope still to be commenting on your blog when we’re both nonagenarians. Assuming there’s still such a thing as a “blog” of course.

This is proof that even though mormons named Zion in honor of their whacko religion, and then proceeded to name every high point, stream etc. after characters and places in their mythology, the scenery doesn’t care. Geology doesn’t care. Seasons don’t care. They fucking refuse to be downgraded by association with a cult.

Happy Birthday, PZ! It’s my birthday today too, and I’m very happy to share it with you. Also I just ate a seafood birthday treat, which is as close as I’m going to get to anything tentacular today (unless I manage to involve some seafood in supper tonight as well :-D ).

It’s also Rio the river otter’s birthday! Leaving aside the disappointing fact that she doesn’t have tentacles even though she lives in an aquarium (there’s an octopus around the corner, though), she’s still healthy at an age that her wild compatriots aren’t known to ever reach, is living a happy, healthy life under the care of a dozen trainers and specialists, and is expanding our knowledge of her species and ecosystem every day. While she adorably cavorts with dog toys stuffed with fish heads.

If you are not happy about your gifts, Rat from the comic strip “Pearls Before Swine” has many suggestions for what to do. He keeps trying to publish those suggestions in the form of children’s tales, but due to the extreme violence he has had no luck so far.

The mildly deranged penguin just searched her pockets, and found (besides the usual assortment of dust bunnies, broken pens, spare hand grenades, several copies of The Grauniad from the last several decades, a broken watch, what looks like the remains of a sushi meal she mislaid several years ago, half a drumkit, several Margaritas, and other odds and sods) the rind from some, sadly now unidentifiable, cheese. She’s managed to scrap most of mold off (those hand grenades came in handy) — except for the bit which kept fighting back — and asks it that’s Ok?

She’ll post it as soon as see can find a sturdy-enough steel barrel it can’t chew its way out of…